The Role of International and Supranational Organizations in Tourism

This essay examines the significant roles of international and supranational organizations in the planning and implementation of sustainable tourism development. It highlights how these organizations, such as the UNWTO, shape global policy, provide financial support, and facilitate collaboration among countries to address environmental concerns and promote inclusive development. The essay discusses their involvement in setting sustainable development goals, providing resources for technological advancements and research, and ensuring fair practices, including compensation for displaced communities. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of these organizations in removing trade barriers, fostering knowledge transfer, and adapting to global economic challenges to ensure the long-term viability and sustainability of the tourism sector. The essay underscores the role of these organizations in promoting responsible and universally accessible tourism, focusing on economic growth, environmental sustainability, and inclusive development.

International tourism policy
and
planning

1
Role(s) of international and/or supranational organization play in the planning and
implementation of sustainable tourism development
Tourism sector is expanding at much faster rate and it is contributing to the world economy to
a large extent. Due to increase in the challenges especially the environment concerns have
forced the companies and the countries to have sustainable tourism development model.
There are many supranatural or international organisations that play a greater role in the
sustainable tourism development. Since world has become interconnected and the
development of sustainable tourism cannot be possible without the collaboration of all the
countries. The international organisations provide a platform to all the countries where they
can discuss and make policies (Beritelli, 2011). Globalisation has made the world so much
connected that there is an increased requirement that international organisation play a greater
role in the management of the industry. Their role also gets significant because the tensions in
different parts of the world is increasing and hence giving safety to tourists is not easily
possible until there is a larger governing body that maintains collaboration among the
stakeholders.
The first role of international organisations can be understood in terms of the fact that they
have the prime role in the global policy development. These organisations make plans and
policies that will be acceptable to all. The role becomes critical as the sustainability practices
all across the globe differs from country to country. Due to this, firms are unable to make
policies that are universally acceptable. Another crucial role of the international organisations
is that it empowers the poor nations with certain kind of economic funds without which
sustainability cannot be achieved at the global levels (Spenceley, 2012). For example,
UNESCO provides funds to the countries so as to protect the international heritage places.
This not only helps in development and protection of that heritage but also restricts the
stakeholders to over-exploit these places for their benefits. Once the UNESCO identifies any
heritage to world heritage then the government of that region also becomes more conscious
and starts working towards the development of that place in such a manner that sustainability
can be achieved. This is also true in the case of regional banks such as Asian Development
Bank or World Bank, which provide loans to the state or national government for the
sustainable tourism development of any tourist spot (Budruk & Phillips, 2010). What is more
often seen is that due to lack of money, governments either leave the spot or give the

2
development project to the private companies whose ultimate aim is to gain higher profits
rather than sustainable development of the area.
International organisations like UN makes plans about the environment related sustainability.
Following these standard practices and procedures, any regional government is allowed to
give permission to the companies for doing their business. This becomes more critical in the
case of tourism spots that are attached with the nature. UN focuses on aspects such as human
rights or the rights of the people who are often displaced due to development of the area
(López-Guzmán, Sánchez-Cañizares & Pavón, 2011). While a place gets developed, the
governments or the developing authorities most of the time takes lands or ancestral homes of
the people. UN ensures that once the sustainable development practices is carried out at any
tourist destinations, then responsible authorities must provide proper compensation to the
people that lose their stake from that place.
Another important role of the UN and its extended arms such as UNWTO is that UN has
made certain kinds of sustainable development goals which every industry has to follow. The
sustainable development goals address all the factors that could have impact on the
sustainability of the industry. It also gives the guidelines using which any country will
develop the tourist spots. UN and its extended arms have made many policies related to
climate change which every country needs to follow while developing their natural tourist
spots. It is seen that due to excess construction at the tourist spots for providing facilities to
the visitors, companies usually degrade the condition of the flora and fauna present at that
place. UNWTO is responsible for promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally
accessible tourism (Buhalis & Darcy, 2010).
Economic growth, environment sustainability and inclusive development are something that
is promoted by the UNWTO. In the meanwhile, sustainable tourism development should also
focus towards development of the nearby areas. They have the role in the inclusive
development of the tourism spots which must include the development of the society in the
nearby areas. This organisation has the role in offering leadership and supporting the sector in
the areas such as advancing knowledge and promoting tourism policies at the global levels.
For example from 2006, UNWTO is conducting Asia/Pacific executive training program on
the areas such as Tourism policy and strategy. This high level training program was
conducted so as to provide a platform for policy makers to come together for exchanging
ideas regarding the sustainability issues faced in different parts of the world (Waligo, Clarke

3
& Hawkins, 2013). The basic idea behind it was to develop more numbers of decision makers
that are able to make realistic and effective decisions.
International organisations role becomes significant in terms of the fact that some countries
do not have enough of resources so as to manage the sustainable tourism development. For
instance technology, there are many countries that have advanced technologies which they
can use in the sustainability practices but there are also many countries that do not have these
technological resources (Morrison, 2013). It is the role of the international organisations to
reduce this deficiency by providing them not only technology but also with the training to the
employees and people in the country so that they can effectively utilise these technologies for
bringing sustainability in the tourism development. Without training, implementing
sustainable tourism development model cannot be possible.
It is the role of the international organisation to make sure that they redefine the sustainability
in terms of different processes and use of raw materials. In this regards they set new set of
standards that if applied then sustainability can be ensured. This also goes true with the fact
that every country does not have resources to do research and development that ensures
sustainability hence these international organisations provide them with these resources. If
any sustainability approach has been successful in any area, then it is the role of the
international organisation to transfer this knowledge to other countries that is facing similar
problems in their region (Mowforth & Munt, 2015).
The role of the international organisation in the implementation can also be understood by the
fact that due to conflicts in various parts of the world, companies are not able to make trade
agreements that supports sustainable tourism (Kolk & Van Tulder, 2010). International
organisations help in transferring the capabilities that are required in the new product
development which plays an essential role in the management of the tourism and also ensures
that resources can be utilised in the long term. The international organisations such as World
Bank help the country in finding the challenges that they might face in the capacity
development process. International organisations help in removing the trade barriers which
plays a crucial role in the development of any sector. International organisation helps in
making a collaborative effort by uniting all the countries and giving them platforms where
they can decide the future of the tourism industry as well (KhairatP0F & Maher, 2012). Since
sustainable development cannot be achieved without making a team effort where all the
countries work with each other to understand each other’s problems and help in resolve those

4
issues. They can provide valuable information to each other and hence empowering each
other in the development of the tourism at the workplace.
International organisations also have a role in conducting campaigns in different parts of the
world where they can work with regional government to enhance the sustainability approach
of the company. Since tourism industry is highly dependent on the growth of the economy,
which in current time is very poor hence it is the role of the international organisations to
generate funds so that sustainable tourism development plans that are already going on does
not stops. The slow growth of American economy is another major concern of the tourism
industry for which international organisations can take initiatives to improve the condition
(Albrecht, 2013). International organisation also has a role in making changes in the
sustainable development goals which must be changed according to the concerns of the
global diaspora rather than the profit sightedness of any particular nation.
In conclusion it can be said that international organisations acts as a moderator between the
different stakeholders attached with the Tourism industry. The practices designed by the
international organisations help in easy implementation of the sustainable business practices
in every part of the world. International organisation helps countries in terms of financial
strengths so as to do the development of the tourism spots in an appropriate manner (Smith,
2014). The rights of the people and associated stakeholders of the firms are often protected by
the rules and policies that are made by the international organisations.

5
REFERENCES
Albrecht, J. N. (2013). Networking for sustainable tourism–towards a research
agenda. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 21(5), 639-657.
Beritelli, P. (2011). Cooperation among prominent actors in a tourist destination. Annals of
Tourism Research, 38(2), 607-629.
Budruk, M., & Phillips, R. (Eds.). (2010). Quality-of-life community indicators for parks,
recreation and tourism management (Vol. 43). Springer Science & Business Media.
Buhalis, D., & Darcy, S. (Eds.). (2010). Accessible tourism: Concepts and issues. Channel
View Publications.
KhairatP0F, G., & Maher, A. (2012). Integrating sustainability into tour operator business:
An innovative approach in sustainable tourism. Tourismos: An international
multidisciplinary journal of tourism, 7(1), 213-233.
Kolk, A., & Van Tulder, R. (2010). International business, corporate social responsibility and
sustainable development. International business review, 19(2), 119-125.
López-Guzmán, T., Sánchez-Cañizares, S., & Pavón, V. (2011). Community-based tourism
in developing countries: a case study. Tourismos, 6(1).
Morrison, A. M. (2013). Marketing and managing tourism destinations. Routledge.
Mowforth, M., & Munt, I. (2015). Tourism and sustainability: Development, globalisation
and new tourism in the third world. Routledge.
Smith, S. L. (2014). Tourism analysis: A handbook. Routledge.
Spenceley, A. (2012). Responsible tourism: Critical issues for conservation and development.
Routledge.
Waligo, V. M., Clarke, J., & Hawkins, R. (2013). Implementing sustainable tourism: A multi-
stakeholder involvement management framework. Tourism management, 36, 342-
353.